my new towel cupboard (in my new grooming room)

Yes! I'm in the new grooming room!

Its not finished. Well, not entirely. But then again, is anything ever really finished?

Ok. So the grooming room is usable-finished. I began using it as soon as I got the vinyl down on the floor. Even before I had most of my stuff moved in there. Or the door finished. But I have a new cupboard for my towels!

I'm sorry I don't have any before photos - cause when the urge to paint hits, well, its all I can do to put on painting clothes!

***** I found the before photos. Well, more like the 'almost before' photos. Here it is with legs and masking tape...

And here it is with the painting just finished.

I got this little meatsafe/cupboard from a tip shop a few years ago. It had no top or legs, and was a stained and varnished wood colour. But the metal screen was fine.

I used a piece of pine I had to make a top for it and searched my leg collection for some legs that would work with it. I wanted it tall enough to be out of 'pee' reach.

It IS a grooming room after all!

I had some old green paint from a room I painted long ago (it was a hideous colour, no idea what I was thinking!). I poured some of it into a plastic container, added a bit of light blue I'd made up for another project and voila: the perfect antique green!

Being the lazy sod I am, the only prep work I did was mask off the handle, hinges and metal screen.

Since I chose not to sand, I mixed some fine grout into the paint, making it a chalk-like paint and just slapped it on. It took 2 coats. Once dry I gave it a light sand to encourage a chippy look.

The new towel cupboard sits behind the inner door of the grooming room. Its not big enough really, but its pretty. I might one day make a base for it, another cupboard... Who knows? For now it holds clean towels and my cd player.

So here's a pic of the other side of the new grooming room, in use! Erik lies on the table with the dryer on him. Such a good boy. He didn't move while I changed cds and took the pic!

There's a lot to do but I'm taking my time. The old grooming room wasn't perfect by any stretch, but I got used to it - I worked in there for 7 years! It kind of grew around me. It'll take a while for this room to grow around me too. I'll need shelves and hooks for my tools. I'll need pictures on the wall and hooks for leads...

I'll need to put the window on the door! And a door handle!

Its a work in progress.

z

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mounted pug head

Thought I'd share a little project I've had sitting around for a while now.  This is Pugsly. A mounted pug head.

The best kind of mounted pug head: a fake one.

This little guy is made from old newspapers, diluted PVA glue, air dry clay, old comics and an old cheese board as a mount.

Talk about recycling.

Doesn't everyone need a wall mounted pug head? Especially one as cute as this little guy!

I've listed him for sale on a Facebook selling page but no nibbles so far. I'm keeping it a secret from him so he doesn't feel rejected and unloved. You have no idea how much a depressed pug head can bring down the mood around the house.

z

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playing with barbies

Meet the girls. From left to right: Barbie, Barbie and Barbie. And their poodles - Larry and Peggy.

These are my girls. The one on the right is the first one I bought - Fashion Queen Barbie from 1962 or 63. The middle one is a Ponytail Barbie from 1962. And then there's the blonde Ponytail Barbie from 1961. I have one more brunette Ponytail, also from 1961, but she's not dressed. Yet.

The blonde girl is in her original clothes. I got her on ebay. The other two I bought from a local collection. They came in their original bathing suits and I had planned to make their clothes myself but have you ever seen how TINY their clothes are?* I ended up buying them dresses from a very talented lady on etsy who's probably way younger than me and has way more patience (and better eyesight!). You can visit her shop here. I already had shoes to match their outfits thanks to a friend and her collection!

The white standard poodle is also an ebay find from many years ago. She's been living in my poodle collection since I bought her over 16 years ago. She's now finally got a mom of her own.

The miniature poodle was a recent ebay find. When I went Barbie mad and went looking for an early Ponytail model I came across him. He came complete with two outfits, two leashes, a food bowl and a couple of other bits and pieces. How could I resist?

I love them, though to be honest, I think I could probably make a pipe cleaner or felt poodle that looks better than either of these... their charm is in their vintage-ness.

I have big plans for these girls. But I have things to do before I start playing with dolls. (Playing MORE with dolls). I have a grooming room to finish, an office to clean up (so I can find my projects) and Bratz dolls to make over and list in my etsy shop.

The To Do list never gets shorter. It just changes so I don't get bored of it.

z

* Tiny clothes on Barbies says the woman who's now making clothes for repainted Bratz dolls!

progress in the grooming room

Its been slow. I mean, its been months! A project I thought would take me a couple of weeks... ok, a month or so... has taken ages. Partly cause it was a bigger job than I thought (ain't it always?) and secondly cause I haven't actually been working on it as regularly as I'd planned.

Things happen. I get busy. You know how it goes. Sometimes a book just has to be read, or a TV show becomes an addiction you can't ignore.

Despite that, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

This last week I finished the walls and ceiling. Those were the big things. 

The ceiling was the hardest. I used 3mm MDF sheets to cover the flakey, gappy, holey baltic pine ceilings. I'd have loved to remove the baltic pine to reuse but the job would have been way too big. I opted to just cover it, last thing I wanted was stuff falling down on me every time I groomed a dog. Now I have a smooth surface to paint.

The electrician is coming tomorrow to put my lights in - fluoros so I can see! There are no windows, just the one in the door, so I need plenty of artificial light.

Speaking of windows, I've made the window/door frame and have perspex to put in it, it just needs to be painted.

As you may remember, the right hand wall is covered in recycled masonite. It needs a good wash before painting. And everything needs undercoating before I paint the entire space white.

I'm leaving the center panel with its shabby paint look. I love it.

It was really hard to do this room cause nothing is straight. The ceiling and walls don't have straight edges. Look at the gaps! I did all kinds of dodgey patches to try to minimise gaps. I also ended up lining the back wall which I thought I'd leave as it was (ie old) but I had pine left over. Not enough to go all the way up the ceiling though. I used leftover bits of MDF at the top. Very unevenly. I figure once the entire space is painted white and I put things on and against the walls no one will notice.

I hope.

Don't look at the mess in the workshop outside the inner door.

This is better. Forget you saw that mess.

The room is clean now, swept, tools and rubbish cleared out. I just have to wash walls and move the compressor back to its spot in the garage and I'm ready to paint.

Outside in the tiny yard I've put flashing against the bottom weather boards to stop rain soaking in over the concrete slab. Hopefully that will stop any dampness - not so much in the new grooming room but in the old one.

I've sprayed weeds and have cardboard and newspaper to spread over the ground, then I'll get pine bark to fill the space which will keep it from getting muddy.

Meanwhile, it's been so windy here that I've had to go to extreme measures to save my little silver birch. There was a huge cosmos flowering to the left of it but it was broken by the wind. So sad.

The garden is looking awful right now. Everything that flowered in early spring has died (or gone to seed). I now have to find the time to cut back the dead stuff and pull out weeds. Then all I can do is wait for the summer flowering stuff to start looking good. 

z